The Invaders by Karolina Waclawiak

to a head now,” Jeffrey said. “There are families setting up picnics on the rocks like they live here.”
    â€œRight. What gives them the right to enjoy it? Do they pay taxes here? No, they don’t. I do,” Bunny said aggressively.
    â€œThey just want to see a bit of beach. It’s all private up and down the coast except for one place,” I said.
    â€œThey can go there then and pay the entrance fee. Nothing’s for free,” Bunny said. She narrowed her eyes at me and said, “Don’t you care about safety?”
    â€œOf course I do,” I told her. But everyone looked at me like I didn’t care about safety, like I thought danger was no big deal.
    â€œIt sounded positively terrifying,” Bunny said.
    â€œWhat’d he do, touch you?” Teddy said.
    Bunny inhaled sharply and Teddy started to laugh.
    â€œHe was drunk and using the street like his public toilet and he lunged at Lori and Cheryl,” Bunny said.
    â€œLori’s finger is pretty banged up,” I said. “She could have really hurt herself. He didn’t do it, though. She did.”
    â€œWhose side are you on, Cheryl?” Bunny said. “It’s terrible to beafraid in your own neighborhood. Lori had a brilliant idea to build a fence and install a gate. We’re going to do it.”
    â€œLori’s idea?” I asked.
    â€œShe’s just so community-oriented. A natural leader. I could see her being president of the club one day.”
    â€œGod, I hope not,” Jeffrey said.
    â€œWell, what’s obvious is that we have a real problem with these people,” said Bunny.
    â€œWhat do you mean ‘these people’?” asked Teddy, suddenly curious.
    Bunny stared at Teddy and he said, “Sounds pretty racist.”
    â€œLori said he had a knife,” Bunny said, leaning in close.
    I thought back. Had I seen a knife? Now I wasn’t sure. Why would Lori make something like that up? He was just peeing; he had a fishing pole and a bucket. Other women started coming toward the table.
    â€œAre you okay?” they all asked at once.
    â€œIt’s been a long day,” I answered.
    Bunny stared straight at me and asked me if I had been scared.
    â€œWe all know Lori’s not much help,” I said. The women didn’t appreciate my sense of humor, so I said, “It just felt uncomfortable.” They were salivating for details. They wanted mayhem.
    Leslie, who I usually like very much, looked at me as if I was lying.
    â€œI was only scared in the moment.”
    â€œYou left yourselves wide open,” Jeffrey said.
    â€œNo, we didn’t. We came upon him, not the other way around.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m saying. We can’t live in fear,” Bunny said. “Even if we pretend we’re not afraid.”
    â€œWell, poor people are scary,” Teddy said.
    â€œThat’s not what this is about,” snapped Bunny.
    Jeffrey looked at Teddy as if he didn’t understand anything at all. The women crowded around us and Jeffrey stared at all of them, then started working on them. This is what he did best. They shared theirown stories of fear. Walking the dog late at night near the water and hearing scurrying sounds or voices. Someone was trying to take away what we had, or benefit from it, at the very least. And this was unacceptable to them. The man hadn’t attacked us. There was always an influx of people in the summer. Unknown variables, friends of friends, but they somehow seemed invited because they looked like they belonged. I walked these streets constantly and never felt unsafe before.
    I looked to Teddy for help, but Jeffrey just sat there egging them on. He said he had always seen shadowy men wandering the streets at night. People he had never seen before. There was no telling what they would do if they thought they were under siege. They had a lot to fight for.
    â€œAren’t your men going to